Food, wine and adventures in and around London.

Rooms & Pacific Social Club, E5

I have no self-control when it comes to interiors and I am always buying new bits and bobs for our place. So when we stumbled upon an independent shop, Rooms, which stocks antiques and vintage homeware pieces I was in heaven. Open just over a year and already featured in Vogue this place is a little gem.

Teaming antiques and reclaimed treasures with the odd modern piece, Rooms has an ever changing hand-picked stock. From design classics to retro kitsch, you’ll find an eclectic mix of different styles and eras. It’s cleverly curated too. Colours complement each other throughout and the whole shop has been really thought out – it’s super pretty. It’s a place to wander and wish you owned it all. The one off pieces scream ‘buy me now or lose me forever’ as you know they’ll be gone the next time you pop in.

Just in were these candles. You definitely can’t say no to these. I mean, look…

My favourite find was this 1970’s mirror. I like how it’s so simple but makes a great statement piece. Also I’m living in these boxy trousers at the mo – you can always rely on COS for a great throw on pair.

The owner, Kentaro, is always on hand to help you out, give a bit of product background or just have a friendly chat. It’s clear he is passionate about his project. He also supports local artists by selling their cards and designs alongside his own. I loved this dog one (obviously).

After spending the good part of an hour mooching and settling on those very pretty candlesticks, which was very restrained as we could have bought it all, we headed off into the cold.

A few doors down we came across a bustling little cafe and tempted by the smell of coffee and the warmth, popped in. We ended up staying for breakfast. Pacific Social Club serves honest food and has a pretty wide freshly squeezed juice menu. We had the orange and ginger juice, which was overwhelmingly gingery, but in a good way. If you go I’d recommend the smoked salmon and avocado on rye bread, it was dreamy. My mocha was as tasty as it was pretty.

The staff were really friendly and the place had regulars popping in and out. As the name suggests, it’s a ‘social’ place and laptop users are encouraged to use the back room – I quite liked that. From Thursday to Saturday it’s open in the evenings serving authentic Japanese food and cocktails.

I can’t think of a better way to spend a day off than browsing beautiful antiques and eating good food.